English Learners sporting “Multilingualism is my Super Power!” t-shirts took a field trip to San Francisco last week to see the sights, practice English, and revel in being someone who speaks more than one language. As part of their city adventure, students rode the ferry, counted piers, talked to street artists, visited the aquarium, practiced words for describing city sights (e.g., crowded, busy, tall, old, new, colorful) and got to ogle the famous Pier 39 sea lions.

“Many of the students were on the ferry and at the aquarium for the first time," says Deveny Dawson, instructional coach and project lead. "The day was full of language, laughter, new experiences, and new friends!"

Altogether 70 English Learners from all nine of AUSD elementary schools took part in the field trip.

“This was a chance to bring to life their learning from a designated English Learner Development unit on Virtual Field Trips,” says Language and Literacy Coordinator Nancy Lai. “Equally important, it gave us a chance to de-stigmatize the category of ‘English Learner’ and show these students just how special they are. We hope to build more trips across the grade spans over time.”

Special thanks go to all the instructional coaches, teachers, paraprofessionals, office managers, parent chaperones, and principals who collectively helped make this trip a success. And an extra special thank you goes to AEF for funding the t-shirts. Having a shared “uniform” made the experience all the more special.